


craving attachment desire

by serendipitousDescent



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, M/M, OT4, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 12:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12581452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipitousDescent/pseuds/serendipitousDescent
Summary: It starts with a cat.Or maybe with the man who stops by his work every week to bother him.Probably not with his stunning neighbour, but Kei is open to pretending if it pisses off Kuroo.





	craving attachment desire

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoy this vaguely magic-themed fic in celebration <3

A cat is what starts everything. 

Or rather, a cat is what makes Kei start paying attention. 

To his credit, being followed by a sleek, black cat on his way home from work isn’t just odd, it’s typically a bad sign of things to come. Kei glances back over his shoulder and his frown deepens. 

The cat hasn’t even made an effort to hide its stalking. Instead, it shoots forwards and jumps up onto his neighbour’s garbage can to stare at him from a better angle, leaping back down when Kei keeps walking. It hasn’t gotten further than an arm’s length away since he left work nearly twenty minutes ago. That would be a lot less worrying if the cat hadn’t also followed him to work this morning and the morning before that and the morning before that. 

Sooner or later, the damn cat is going to sneak into his apartment. And his mother taught him never to ignore signs like that. But it’s getting to the point where he won’t even care if the cat never leaves him alone again - which is undoubtedly the biggest sign of how fucking annoying this cat is. 

Today almost looks to be that day, given the way the cat stays just a half step behind him his entire trek up the stairs. Kei braces himself for the inevitable, but when he gets to his apartment, the cat continues onwards. This time, it’s the one to glance back at him when it reaches the apartment a few doors down and waits in front of the door. 

As if Kei would really go over there and let it into another person’s apartment. 

Instead, he unlocks his own door and firmly closes it behind him.

* * *

Two more charms before lunch, and Kei can get out of going to Karasuno’s weekly meet-up at the pub. 

Two more charms, and Ukai will have to make excuses for him, so he can watch the volleyball game in the safety of his own apartment, rather than in the pub. 

Which would all be a lot easier if there weren’t a nuisance waiting for him outside his workroom, just on the verge of distracting him. The nuisance takes the form of a man with the widest grin Kei has ever seen on a human, barring perhaps Hinata, and Kei still isn’t entirely convinced that Hinata is human. At least the grin isn’t as stupid as the haircut, otherwise Kei would never talk to him at all. Bokuto Koutarou also happens to be someone who continuously shows up to his work. 

Not that the last part has anything to do with Kei. According to Daichi, Bokuto comes by once a week to pick up a couple packages of charms for the shop he works at downtown. At which point, Kei promptly stopped asking questions. 

Only partially because Asahi had nervously entered the room to inform them that the batch of charms he just finished might have a bit more punch behind them than they should. And yet his brief moment of curiosity still spread from one end of the building to the other. Yamaguchi certainly didn’t deserve that home-cooked meal after all that teasing. The only satisfying part of that day was getting to watch Kageyama attempt to clean up the mess Asahi’s charms made. 

That aside, Kei can almost feel the air charge with energy and braces himself for the inevitable. 

“Tsukki?” Bokuto calls from just outside the door, as if Kei could have possibly missed him. “Are you almost done in there?” 

Kei purposely keeps his head down and doesn’t say a word. 

If he shows even the slightest hint that he heard Bokuto, it will be as close to an invitation for him to come inside as it could be without actually inviting him inside. Disastrous wouldn’t even begin to cover that possibility. Even when he doesn’t include the odd way charm ingredients tend to explode around Bokuto. 

No one in the entire office has managed to come up with a reasonable explanation for it, but that’s just what happens. Charms ingredients explode or disappear or turn into ash, except only ever around Bokuto. 

“Tsukki!” 

Kei squeezes his eyes shut and breathes in deeply. 

All he needs is a few more seconds, then he can leave his work room to tell Bokuto off as much as he wants. The charm is still in front of him when he looks back down at the table. His hands stay steady as he dips the crow’s feather into the prepared mix of herbs. 

“Hinata said that your break started five minutes ago, and I’ve been wanting to take you out for lunch,” Bokuto continues, not at all discouraged by the lack of a response. 

His grip on the feather loosens. 

The words sink in just in time for Kei to fumble and drop it, and a steady stream of curses leaves him as the mixture starts to crackle with tiny explosions. Grey and yellow sparks fill the bowl, turning the feather to ashes as soon as they touch it. 

Sweat slowly drips down the back of Kei’s neck. All it takes is smothering the sparks with a towel to make the explosions stop, but his charm is already done for. And Bokuto managed to catch the entire thing, all because he finally tried to open the door and found it unlocked. The temperature in the room seems to rise sharply as Bokuto gapes at the ruined charm. Kei abruptly stands and grabs his coat from the back of his chair. 

“You’re paying for lunch,” he proclaims loudly. 

Bokuto brightens immediately, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Of course, Tsukki!” 

As soon as Kei gets to the doorway, Bokuto throws an arm around his shoulders, one hand cupping his arm. Heat travels from his neck to his chest, but Kei only grumbles at the contact. Pulling away would only make Bokuto pout at the lack of contact, Kei already knows, and so he allows him to stay a warm, comforting weight from shoulders to hip. 

All of this is just payback for the ruined charm, anyways. Even if Kei would have said yes to the free food to begin with, nevermind if that means willingly listening to Bokuto ramble on about how amazing lunch is going to be. And then how Bokuto really wants him to meet this old friend of his, Kuroo or something. 

But Kei also forces himself to look away when Bokuto beams at him after he snorts at a particularly bad joke, his heart a butterfly trapped inside his chest. Bokuto draws him back into conversation easily enough, but that moment stays with him. He isn’t the type of person to enjoy things like this. 

Kei promises himself that he won’t let the promise of free food tempt him into going out with Bokuto like this again, as they leave. 

He already knows it’s a lie.

* * *

“Woah.” 

Kei looks over at Yamaguchi and smirks. “I know I’m attractive, but you don’t have to be so obvious about it. People will get jealous.” 

“Tsukki, shut up.” There isn’t even a telltale hint of red to Yamaguchi’s cheeks as he nods down the walkway. “Is _that_ your neighbour?” 

Any last teasing remarks promptly curl up and die when Kei glances to his left. 

Attractive is the only word to properly describe the man standing there, presumably searching through his pockets for his keys. Even from this angle, Kei can make out his delicate cheekbones and quiet intensity. He would almost certainly be the sort of person to whisper sweet nothings in his ear with one breath, then curse him with the next. Unfortunately, the exact sort of person Kei tends to be attracted to. 

The stranger glances towards them as he finally pulls out his keys, almost offhandedly making eye contact with Kei. It makes him freeze in place, a force of nature unto itself. And that is where Kei stays while his supposed neighbour gathers all his groceries from the walkway and brings them inside. 

Yamaguchi snorts when the door closes behind him, breaking the odd tension in Kei’s limbs. “You should go over there and introduce yourself sometime.” 

“Why the fuck would I do that?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe because you looked like you were ready to drop to your knees right then and there if that guy so much as said a word?” Yamaguchi teases.

Kei rolls his eyes and starts for the stairs. “Care to explain why I’m friends with you again?” 

“Oh, are you going to ask him out now? I thought you’d at least wait until tomorrow.”

“Just so you know, I’m blaming Shimada for this sudden backbone you have.” 

Yamaguchi laughs, but makes no effort to deny the claim. Not that it would do anything to change Kei’s mind. He’s more than well aware of just how much effort Shimada has put into improving Yamaguchi’s self confidence.

Kei briefly pauses in front of his neighbour’s door. A small nameplate sits there, just like beside his own door, and he reads it with a frown. Akaashi Keiji is the name written there, and it rings familiarly through his mind. He would remember a face like that if he had met the man from earlier, he’s certain.

The entire thing is irrelevant, anyways. Kei isn’t out looking for any sort of relationship, not a quick fuck in some back alleyway or domestic bliss with a white picket fence and two point five cats. Regular life works just fine for him. 

Complications are for other people. 

Kei starts walking again, as if nothing ever happened. “C’mon, Yachi will worry if we’re late.” 

“You mean that Hinata will hunt us both down and bribe Kageyama into dragging us to the bar,” Yamaguchi says, with not a small note of glee.

“Those bastards are welcome to try.”

* * *

Charms line the insides of his windows. Most of the time, they prevent any noise from coming inside, particularly if said noise takes the form of any annoying bastards fucking around in the back parking lot. Too many people like to shoot off grandiose pieces of spellwork in the middle of the night, when reasonable people are still sleeping. One of the first things Kei learned about this neighbourhood is that its occupants think peace and quiet is meant for other people, people who live in other neighbourhoods with regular jobs and an aversion to testing their own magical strength. 

Apparently none of those charms stop cats from meowing right outside his kitchen window. Or more accurately, prevent Kei from hearing that same meowing as he lies on his couch, determinedly waiting for it to stop. 

All it’s really done is get louder. 

Kei rolls over onto his back and throws the pillow over his face. “Won’t you just shut the fuck up already?” 

The answering meow almost sounds like laughter. 

An entire five seconds pass before he groans and sits up, stopping in disbelief. One good reason as to why his charms aren’t working would be that. Anything inside the apartment is immune to their effects, a bit like a soundproofed box. And that cat is most definitely sitting on his kitchen counter rather than outside, its head tilted to the side. 

It isn’t just a cat either. Kei would have to get his entire memory wiped for him not to recognize the cat that’s been following him to work almost every morning these last few months. 

“How exactly did you get in here?” 

The cat lifts its head, far too proud of itself. 

Maybe this cat is secretly some sort of eldritch being, masquerading as the other cat Kei knows. That would explain why Kei didn’t notice it sneaking in behind him when he got home earlier. And how it escaped his attention for the two hours following that. The cat that’s been stalking him wouldn’t bother keeping its mouth shut for two hours, particularly not when it could be bothering Kei instead. 

None of that really explains what the cat is doing still sitting on his kitchen counter, looking every bit like it just won some sort of cat lottery. It doesn’t so much as blink as Kei stands up and walks over to it.

Well, maybe it doesn’t blink, but that satisfied purr could only be coming from the cat. Not unless his heater has been having more problems than usual. 

Kei holds his fingers a short distance from the cat’s nose. “I just bet you win all of the asshole cat awards, don’t you? You probably go around to everyone’s homes just to knock over their vases and sleep in their clean laundry.”

The cat leans forward to sniff at his fingers. Its feet shuffle from side to side, its two golden eyes focused intently on Kei.

Then it leaps forward, jumping up Kei’s arm with ease.

“Hey!” 

The cat doesn’t pay him any attention, easily settling along the back of Kei’s neck. Rather, it purrs deeply, the noise vibrating through his shoulders as it slowly gets louder and louder. Its tail even swings from side to side, as if the cat is entirely confident that Kei isn’t going to do anything to stop it. 

Not that it’s wrong, exactly - and what sort of cat is this that is has Kei so firmly under its paw? Brainwashing in any form has been illegal for well over two centuries now, but the law doesn’t necessarily apply to animals. Not that it would surprise Kei if there were built-in clauses that address oddly intelligent cats with a wide streak of dickishness in them, such as the one currently draped over his shoulders. 

“You know, you can’t stay there,” Kei says, allowing his annoyance to seep into his voice. “I do have to cook dinner soon.” 

Its small stretch and following meow is far from surprising.

Kei groans.

His options are quickly dwindling, but he just happens to know exactly who this cat belongs to. And therefore who he can pawn it off to, now that it has decided it needs to bother him like this.

The cat shows no signs of distress as Kei crosses his apartment and pulls on his shoes, only minorly readjusting its perch on his shoulder so that it doesn’t fall. In fact, its self-satisfied aura seems to grow when Kei leaves his apartment and heads a few doors down, the name Akaashi Keiji in view.

Kei knocks carefully, incapable of telling the vibrating purrs from his own thundering heart.

After only a short moment, the door opens and his mouth goes dry at the sight of Akaashi Keiji, just as stunning as he had been the week before. Even more so now that Kei is confronted with the frontal view of his gorgeous features. 

If Kei didn’t know any better, he might even say there’s a hint of a smile on Akaashi’s face, like he’s almost happy to see him. It can’t be anything more than the slightest upturn of his lips, just a warm tint to his eyes. Then Akaashi’s gaze lands on the cat and any smile that may or may not have been there is replaced with a tiny frown. 

“Kuroo, what have I told you about bothering the neighbours?” Akaashi asks, smoothly. His low tone is more than capable of ending Kei right then and there. “You and Koutarou both, if I remember correctly.” 

An indignant meow follows as the cat - Kuroo - shifts its weight to sit properly on Kei’s shoulder.

Akaashi sighs, exhausted. “Just. Go inside and help Koutarou with dinner, would you? He’s been wondering where you’ve been hiding.”

Kuroo jumps down and saunters into Akaashi’s apartment, its tail swaying back and forth with only the slightest glance back at Kei.

Knowing his luck, Kei will likely see Kuroo first thing tomorrow morning.

“I am sorry about him,” Akaashi continues. “I’ve been trying to teach him about boundaries, but the concept has yet to sink in. With both him and Koutarou, actually.” 

Kei swallows back his sudden bout of nerves. “Well, he is a cat, isn’t he? Boundaries won’t exactly come naturally appear after a conversation or two.” 

Akaashi lifts a thin eyebrow and glances back into the apartment, whatever he’s looking at hidden from Kei. “So you would think.”

That same moment is when Kei notices the cheerful music slipping out from the other side of the door. The lively beat is about as far from anything Kei thought Akaashi might listen to as it could possibly be. Someone must have weaved an energy spell into it, rather than something more relaxing. 

Then a man’s voice joins in with the chorus, rich but immediate, and his heart sinks as the pieces finally come together. Koutarou is someone’s first name. Kei couldn’t feel any stupider than he does right now. Akaashi has been hinting towards this their entire conversation, that someone else is over. Someone who is comfortable enough to come into Akaashi’s home and cook him dinner, all with the attentive care of the same, stupid cat that’s been following Kei around.

The voice inside picks up, and something about it reminds him of Bokuto. His smile turns brittle, moments away from shattering to pieces. It isn’t like he had a chance with Akaashi to begin with. It isn’t like he even wanted a chance with Akaashi, given the awkward dance of feelings he’s been navigating with Bokuto already. 

Even that is more than Kei wants right now. 

“Would you like to join us for dinner?” Akaashi asks, oblivious to Kei’s train of thought. “To apologize for Kuroo’s recent behaviour, if nothing else.” 

Kei starts to shake his head before Akaashi even finishes. “I already ordered something to eat. But thanks for the offer.” 

“Well, it was nice to finally meet you then, Tsukishima. Please feel free to stop by whenever you want.”

* * *

Bokuto hasn’t stopped by the office in well over a week. 

That shouldn’t be what Kei is thinking about while he’s finishing up the last of his charms before his lunch break, but there it is. Kei shouldn’t even be worrying about it at all. Bokuto could have just been busy these last couple weeks, or maybe the shop he works at hasn’t needed anymore charms. 

Common sense doesn’t particularly seem to be helping him right now though. The three charms set off to the side, their edges singed, are enough to attest to that. Three whole charms ruined all because some enthusiastic idiot stopped dropping in and begging him to go out for lunch. That is just as many ruined charms as it would be if Bokuto were still barging into his work room. 

As if by some weird, ironic karma, his hand jerks to the side and knocks over the carefully prepared vinegar-based solution, instead of grabbing it as he meant to.

Kei grits his teeth and breathes in slowly. But his frustration only grows the longer he sits here, his hands poised over his ingredients and the clock ticking down the seconds until he’s allowed to leave for his break. 

His chair slides back with a loud screech as he abruptly stands up and storms towards the door. Five minutes won’t make a difference. Five minutes of sitting there will just be five minutes of putting himself further behind, until something inevitably catches on fire. And he won’t have anyone to blame but himself. 

Ukai is leaving his office when Kei all but runs down the hall. There must be something on his face, because Ukai only offers a cautious wave instead of a scolding about him taking his break early. Some of the tension drains from his shoulders at that, and he leaves the building feeling at least slightly more in control of himself. 

The fall breeze is cool on his cheeks as he walks down the street, and the frustration slowly calms, before turning itself inwards. Something as minor as Bokuto not showing up shouldn’t get him so worked up. But Kei still shoves his hands into his pockets, cursing himself, his lack of foresight about the weather, and Bokuto all in the same breath. 

Kei enters the first cafe he sees. The impressive display of energy-boosting snacks hardly phases him in the face of the warmth seeping into his bones. 

It isn’t until Kei gets into line that he realizes his wallet is in his coat. And that his coat is back in his work room at Karasuno. 

Laughter reaches his ears the same moment he turns around. 

His heart jumps up into the back of his throat and his hands clench into fists. That laughter is distinctive, but the glimpse of grey-tipped hair is what really drives that nail in. Bokuto has a wide grin spread across his face as he babble at the person sitting across from him, and it only takes a moment for Kei to place them as well. 

There aren’t many people as attractive as Akaashi Keiji out there. But apparently the world couldn’t just let Akaashi having a partner named Koutarou stay a coincidence. A pang of hatred makes Kei purse his lips as he walks past, uncertain which one of them he would prefer to be sitting there with himself. 

Both, is what the traitorous voice in the back of his mind tell him. It’s matter of fact, and sounds suspiciously like Hinata. He can almost see the firm nods that Hinata would give him too. 

But Kei has turned ignoring Hinata’s advice into an art form. 

“Tsukki!” is what Kei thinks he hears, a heartbeat later. 

A hand grasps his wrist and Kei meets Bokuto’s wide, golden eyes. 

“What?” he asks, his tone biting. “You think it’s funny to jerk people around? I should have guessed that you would be an asshole.” 

Any determination Bokuto might have had quickly drains out of him. “Keiji and I just want to-” 

Kei pulls his hand away and stalks towards the door, not giving Bokuto the opportunity to say another word. He can’t stand to hear another word, regardless of what Koutarou and Keiji want to say to him.

* * *

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:42   
where are you

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:42   
tsukki?

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:43  
i thouhgt we were having dinner together?

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:43   
*thought

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:45  
i cancelled my plans with shimada for you

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:49  
and yes

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:49   
the double texting

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:49  
is because

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:50  
i know 

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:50   
it 

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:50  
pisses

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:51  
you

_[Yamaguchi]_ 19:51  
off

_[Yamaguchi]_ 20:05  
what the fuck

_[Yamaguchi]_ 20:06  
i’m going to kick your ass

_[Yamaguchi]_ 20:06  
i really hope you know that

_[Yamaguchi]_ 20:07  
also ditching people is rude

_[Yamaguchi]_ 20:08  
you could have at least texted me

_[Yamaguchi]_ 20:08  
a response would have been nice too

_[Yamaguchi]_ 21:37  
ok

_[Yamaguchi]_ 21:37  
ngl im getting worried

_[Yamaguchi]_ 21:38  
i still want to kick your ass

_[Yamaguchi]_ 21:39   
but id also like to know if youre dead or not

_[Yamaguchi]_ 21:41  
you dont even have to tell me what happened

_[Yamaguchi]_ 21:42  
bc i know something happened

_[Yamaguchi]_ 21:403  
just want to make sure that im not going to find your corpse in a ditch somewhere

_[Yamaguchi]_ 23:21  
warning

_[Yamaguchi]_ 23:22  
if you dont say anything by morning

_[Yamaguchi]_ 23:23  
im getting noya to use a tracking spell on you

_[Yamaguchi]_ 23:25  
this isnt a joke

_[Yamaguchi]_ 23:26  
i have enough of your shit around my apartment for it to work

* * *

The heavy beat vibrates through his body. Like this, even hearing his own thoughts is impossible, nevermind the words carried over the amplifiers. 

Words aren’t important here. 

What is important here is the mass of moving bodies just a short distance from him. Usually Kei would resist the pull from the music, more than willing to drag him into that mass. But right now, the club’s spell is tempting to fall into. It would be even with just the drink rushing through his veins, lowering his inhibitions and raising his recklessness. Normally, he needs someone to push him into things like this. But today he was the one to seek out this hazy awareness of his own limbs, this inability to think in full sentences. 

An arm drapes itself around his waist and Kei leans into the stranger’s hold, rather than pull away. That much is enough to stand as proof of intoxication. But this is worth it. Anything would be worth the lips brushing against the sensitive skin of his neck, their messy, black hair falling into his line of vision. 

The man says something. Only the movement of his lips draws Kei’s attention to it, but the words are lost to the volume of the music, to someone shouting lyrics in the crowd. It could have been next to anything. But Kei cares more about the warmth pressed against his side than he does about whatever is going through this stranger’s head. This moment is already better than anything he’s experienced this week. 

But his week is the last thing he wants to think about right now. 

If Kei thinks about his week, then that will lead to thinking about Bokuto and Akaashi, and they don’t have a place between the music and the beautiful stranger. 

Lips linger on his neck, unmoving, as both of them sway from side to side in time with the heavy beat. Then the stranger drags his lips upwards, sending sparks of lightning through Kei, and a loud screech echoes through the club, marking the change of the music. 

By the time they reach his ear, that warm breath is managing to heat his entire body. “Sorry, Tsukki.” 

Kei blinks through the haze. 

An apology is the last thing he expected to hear.

But then the stranger pulls him into the crowd, and it’s simple enough to convince himself that he imagined those particular words. Besides, his arms don’t falter from around Kei. Nothing about him falters, his steps smooth across the dance floor. 

If Kei were sober, he might find the ease with which he drapes his arms around this stranger a bit concerning. But that is something for his sober self to worry about, as so for now, Kei lets his hips roll against the other man, a smirk spreading across his face. There are some things he knows he does well. Sex is one of them. 

His reward comes in the form of heated golden focused in on him, the rest of the club disappearing around them. 

His smirk grows. 

This is exactly what he needed.

* * *

“You didn’t have to call Nishinoya in.”

Yamaguchi doesn’t waver. “Then you shouldn’t ignore me.” 

“I didn’t mean to ignore your messages,” Kei groans. 

Yamaguchi rolls his eyes, even as he finally allows his pout to soften. “So, you just coincidentally didn’t respond to me for nearly forty-eight hours then. After we made plans to get dinner on Friday night. Does it say more about me or you that I’m still sticking around?” 

“Definitely you. A better person would have ditched me years ago.”

“Really? Because I’m fairly convinced that if you were the better person of the two of us, you would already be on your way to buy me lunch.” 

“You’ve known about my asshole ways since we met.” 

The following snort is far more forgiveness from Yamaguchi than the actual spoken words would have been, and Kei allows himself a moment of satisfaction. 

They finally reach the entrance and Yamaguchi holds the front door open for him with an expectant look. Kei rolls his eyes, but thanks him anyways. He should have known better than to think lunch was an empty threat. Normally, Yamaguchi is perfectly content to wait for Kei to open the door. Or he’ll let the door close in his face. 

Their asshole tendencies have to go in both directions, after all, or their friendship would have gone up in flames all the way back in high school. 

Kei freezes as he steps outside.

There’s a man leaning against a lamp post, tall and lean and looking every bit like he just pulled himself out of bed for the day. Warm, golden eyes focus in on Kei almost immediately, and a wide smirk spreads across the man’s face. All it takes is for him to start walking towards Kei, the distance between them quickly closing, and that vague sense of familiarity clicks into place. 

Gasping lips pressed against his own, the low murmur of a seductive voice, and the cool bite of the night air. His stomach goes into disarray at the hazy memories of Friday night, but the man doesn’t disappear from in front of him. 

“Kei.” A deep flush shoots straight to Kei’s cheeks, and he scowls to offset it. “Fancy seeing you here.” 

Yamaguchi carefully looks between him and the man from the club. “Tsukki?” 

“You didn’t tell your friend about our time together, Kei? I’m hurt.” 

“I’ll buy you lunch for the rest of the week to make up for this,” Kei says, as calmly as he can manage. 

Yamaguchi takes a moment to assess the situation, then nods sharply and turns down the street with a small wave, leaving Kei alone with the man. Some of the bravado drains out of Kei as soon as Yamaguchi disappears, but he still continues to stare. 

When the man - Kuroo, some dark corner of his mind reminds him - starts in the other direction, Kei falls in step beside him. Neither of them say a word, not even to acknowledge their awkward situation. Any explanation that would encapsulate what Kei feels right now escapes him, his rage festering just beneath the surface. And each slight glance in his direction only allows it to grow further. 

His emotions continue to grow to the point where he hardly even notices where they’re going until they turn into a coffee shop. A wave of warmth and the smell of fresh pastries hits him all at once. 

Something about it makes him frown.

His gaze sweeps over the shop in search of a place to sit, halting abruptly at the sight of Bokuto and Akaashi. Because this is the same coffee shop he went to last week. Kei should honestly be more surprised, but both of them are staring at him, and he already knows better than to think the world will do anything nice for him. 

“Just what is going on here?” Kei demands quietly. 

Kuroo throws an arm over his shoulders. “C’mon, the three of us just want to talk to you.” 

“No.” 

“Not really up for discussion anymore, Tsukki.”

Kuroo steps forward, but it’s the faltering way that Bokuto nearly stands up that makes Kei follow along. He’s only really seen that expression a handful of times, but each time it’s made him grit his teeth at the abrupt way the energy around Bokuto disappears. 

Never has it happened in a situation quite like this though. 

Kei has never been in a situation even remotely like this. 

He sits down across from Akaashi and Bokuto, and lets Kuroo slide in beside him. Not that he has much of a choice as Kuroo steps to the side and waits for him, his intention as clear as day. Kei can’t run if someone is blocking him from the door. Kei has to sit here and listen to this goddamn conversation if Kuroo sits on his other side. 

Awkward silence fills the table as soon as Kuroo sits down. Kei keeps his gaze firmly focused on his lap, refusing to look up and watch Bokuto waver between saying something and keeping his mouth shut. Even Akaashi’s empathetic gaze would be enough to do him in right now, despite them only speaking to each other once before. Out of everyone at the table, only Kuroo is guaranteed to just piss him off more.

“I don’t see the point in-” 

“We need to apologize to you,” Akaashi interrupts, and it takes everything Kei has not to look up at him. “Bokuto and Kuroo especially, but me as well. We should have been upfront with you from the beginning.” 

“It isn’t like that would have changed anything,” Kei says, as casually as he can manage.

“Of course it would have!” 

His head jerks up at Bokuto’s proclamation. 

“I really like you, Tsukki,” Bokuto continues.

His scowl grows as his cheeks start to heat once more. “Is that what really matters right now? Because I seem to remember something else when you were buying me lunch.” 

“It is! It really, really is, because-” 

“Kou, we want to get through the other stuff before we launch into all of that, remember? Gotta break it down into manageable, little pieces,” Kuroo calmly interjects. 

Bokuto breathes in deeply and lets his head hang between his shoulders. Kei can almost see the words struggling to leave his throat like this, whatever sentiment he wants to express poking and prodding in places it shouldn’t. 

The sincerity behind it all pisses Kei off. If Kuroo weren’t trapping him in the booth, he would be long gone by now. Even just the tension in his chest is urging him to run while he still can, before this all goes to shit. Because with this sort of bullshit set-up, of course it’s going to go to shit. That’s just how the world works. 

“It looks like I just have to come out and say it then,” Kuroo continues, his voice coming like a bucket of ice water dumped over Kei’s head. “Kou and I apologize for, well, going about things in a way we shouldn’t have been. Akaashi just feels guilty for not realizing what we were doing right away.” 

Akaashi sighs. “Tetsurou.” 

Bokuto briefly perks up again, adoration written across his face. “He’s right, though! You wanted to wait for things to happen naturally.” 

“And if we did it your way, Tsukki wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” Kuroo agrees. 

“Excuse you.” The three of them finally turn back towards Kei, his scowl becoming more deeply etched into his face with each passing moment. “Hurt is a strong word for something you have yet to explain.” 

“We want to date you. All of us, together.” 

His heart jumps up into his throat as he stares at Akaashi, his scowl fading. The air around them is charged, the same way it always is when Bokuto gets excited about something, but the most important part is the way Akaashi doesn’t falter. 

His face stays calm, his gaze focused on Kei and no one else at their table. There’s no turning away from him, nothing to suggest that Akaashi is anything other than comfortable with the idea. Kei wouldn’t be able to find a lie in that face if he tried, and that makes his hands start to shake in his lap. 

Kei isn’t built for a life like the one being suggested to him. He can barely manage to maintain a friendship with one person, nevermind a relationship with three people. Satisfied may not be the word he would use to describe his life at the moment, but there isn’t much he would change about it either. Changing things is a risk. And diving into a relationship like this, no matter how strong his feelings about any of the people at this table are, is just about the riskiest thing he could do.

But Bokuto is watching him, his enthusiasm waning with each moment that Kei doesn’t respond. Bokuto has always managed to make Kei feel reckless, like he could do just about anything if he tried. No one else could drive Kei to be better like Bokuto does. 

And then there’s Akaashi, his composure breaking just enough for Kei to see the nervous fidgeting of his fingers. Akaashi would be his rock throughout all this, if Kei hypothetically agrees. A subtle reminder that he doesn’t need to get worked up about every small thing, smoothing away his frustration. 

Even Kuroo is focused on him right now, a challenge waiting in the curve of his lips. Like he can tell that Kei really does want to say yes to their proposal. Like he understands just how much Kei wants Bokuto to take him out for lunch or kiss Akaashi first thing in the morning or make snarky comments to the annoying cat who follows him to work. 

His hands stop shaking. “Let me out.” 

Their disappointment is almost physical, but Kuroo still slides out of the booth. 

Kei lingers beside the table once Kuroo sits back down, his mouth flat as he looks at each of them in turn. “This… isn’t a no. I just need time. To think.”

* * *

Something hits the back of his head and Kei groans, reaching back to grab the pillow. He buries his face into it. The pillows Yamaguchi buys are always bigger and fluffier than his own for some reason or another. It’s a mystery he’s tried to figure out for years, and one he’s never managed to find the explanation for. 

His eye twitches when something else hits his shoulder, this time smaller and heavier. He doesn’t reach back this time to find out what exactly it is, but it feels suspiciously like a book weight. The small volleyball-shaped book weight that Kei bought him for his birthday a couple years ago as a joke. 

“Do you want something?” Kei asks, his voice muffled by the pillow. 

Yamaguchi throws a book this time, its edges poking into Kei’s back. “What I want is my couch back.” 

“Too bad.”

“No, not too bad. I paid for that couch.” 

“No, you didn’t.” 

“Did too.” 

“Did not.”

“Did too.” 

“Doesn’t even matter,” Kei says, changing the tune of the argument. “I’ve taken it over now. This is where I’m going to spend the rest of my life. I’ll live and die on this couch.” 

A book collides with the back of his head. Kei winces, his shoulders involuntarily tensed from the burst of pain that follows. It falls to the pillow as he slowly lifts his head, its title clearly visible. It’s something about complex incantations, which certainly explains its size and the pounding in the back of his head. 

Yamaguchi is scowling at him when he finally glances over. A scowling Yamaguchi is a pissed off Yamaguchi is a Kei who doesn’t want to deal with any of this shit. But Yamaguchi also has his hand poised in front of his bookshelf, with another twenty or so books on that shelf alone. And Kei is more than well aware of where those books will end up if he drops his head back into the pillow, never to emerge like he wants to. 

That is just about the only reason why Kei finally pulls himself up, the book weight on his back falling to the cushions. Spotting the pink shirt half-tucked beneath the couch might play a factor as well, but he just rolls his eyes before facing Yamaguchi. 

“I protest this unfair treatment,” he declares. 

Yamaguchi snorts, crossing his arms in front of him. “Unfair treatment? You came into my house with dinner for the two of us, then took over my couch so I couldn’t even sit down to eat it.” 

“That wouldn’t be a problem if you’d just buy a dining room table.” 

Yamaguchi watches him for a long moment before giving up with a small huff and plopping himself down on the couch beside Kei. 

Kei leans back against the couch in the time it takes Yamaguchi to grab a plate of food. His appetite has been almost nonexistent these last few days. Not that Yamaguchi knows any of that. Kei may be an asshole, but he isn’t enough of an asshole to dump all of his recent struggles on another person. 

“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong or what?” Yamaguchi asks, casually. 

Kei groans, and doesn’t answer. 

“I hope you don’t think I haven’t noticed. Did you even take your lunch break yesterday?” 

“What does that matter?” he asks. 

“It matters because you’re really letting that guy you slept with get to you.” Yamaguchi glances over, with a frown. “This is about him, isn’t it?” 

Maybe if Kei just ignores him, he won’t have to explain. 

“No? It is Bokuto then?” 

Kei squeezes his eyes shut and ignores the question. 

“That attractive neighbour of yours? If you wanted in on that, I’d fully support you.” 

“It’s all three of them, alright?” Kei snaps. He regrets it the moment the words leave his mouth, but it’s far too late to take it back now. “All three of them. Together. Because they’ve gotten it into their stupid heads that they want to date me of all people.” 

Yamaguchi slowly lowers his plate down to his lap, and a wide grin spreads across his face. “That’s great. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”

“What?” 

“If one person can’t manage to take care of you, then maybe three people can!”

His groan echoes through the apartment as he falls over onto his side and ignores the laughter coming from the other half of the coach. Why Kei thought Yamaguchi would support him in this, instead of those three bastards, is a mystery. He really should have known better.

* * *

Kei has spent the last fifteen minutes attempting to ignore Bokuto standing outside his work room door, rocking back and forth on his heels. 

His hands don’t shake as he prepares the ingredients, a stack of neatly prepared charms already beside him. They have no reason to. Kei has been waiting all week for Bokuto’s patience to dry up. He’s almost impressed that it even took this long for him to show up. 

The last charm of the morning joins the rest of the pile, and Kei notes the time, just minutes left before his break. Ukai will be impressed with just how much Kei managed to get done regardless, maybe even to the point where he’ll let him off the hook for this week’s pub night. Probably not, but Kei will always hope. 

All it takes is one glance in Bokuto’s direction for him to start beaming and charge through the door. “Tsukki!” 

“How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that?” Kei snaps, automatically. The moment Bokuto halts, his shoulders slumping, he realizes his mistake and sighs. “Forget it. Call me whatever you want.” 

Bokuto quickly shakes his head. “No, if you - if you aren’t comfortable, then-” 

“Did I not just tell you to call me whatever you want?” 

“But!” 

Kei rolls his eyes and grabs his coat from the back of his chair, shrugging it over his shoulders. “If you buy me lunch, then I’ll be perfectly comfortable with you calling me Tsukki? There. Does that make it better?” 

He very carefully doesn’t glance over as he heads for the door, uncertain of what sort of expression he wants Bokuto to have. But the way Bokuto rushes to walk beside him is answer enough, despite the small, but carefully maintained distance between them. Kei might not be comfortable with crossing that line quite yet, but he’s getting there. The urge to reach over and grab Bokuto’s hand is there.

* * *

Kuroo is the first one to drape a casual arm over his shoulders, purposely ignoring the exasperated look Kei gives him. 

It doesn’t come as a surprise though. Perhaps it should, given the lack of conversation between the two of them compared to Kei and Akaashi or Bokuto. Although, out of the three of them, Kuroo is the one who Kei has memories of being pinned to a wall by, heat spreading through his body whenever he thinks back to that club. 

Then again, if pinning Kuroo to a wall and kissing _him_ stupid wiped that smirk off his face, Kei would almost certainly do it. 

“Not following me home today?” Kei asks, keeping his tone falsely light. 

“Of course I am.” Kuroo directs that smirk at him and squeezes his shoulder. “I’m more than willing to follow you home everyday, if you’d let me. Home, your kitchen, then your bedroom.” 

“I’m just trying to figure out what makes today different.” 

“Well, you don’t usually tell me when you get off work.” 

“No. Normally you just wait outside of Karasuno until I’m done, then follow me from the shadows, where you think I can’t see you. I should have realized you were a creepy guy sooner. Oh, wait. I did.” 

Kuroo’s smirk turns brittle. 

Kei lets the corner of his mouth twitch upwards, thoroughly satisfied with himself. But Kuroo doesn’t protest the arm around his waist, and Kei tells himself that the soft squeeze of Kuroo’s hip is nothing more than a power play. 

“Cruel,” Kuroo declares, with no small amount of teasing. “I don’t know how I’m attracted to someone who’s so mean to me.” 

“I’m just teaching you to be honest about your masochism.” 

“Ah, is that what this is?” 

“We could always find out,” Kei says, smirking. 

Kuroo’s laughter echoes across the street, warm and bright. 

Kei quickly looks away before it can infect him further, but if the heat spreading through his chest is anything to go by, it’s far too late for that. 

Too late, is what echoes through his head when they get to Akaashi’s apartment. Too late, is what’s whispered into his ear when Bokuto spots the physical contact between him and Kuroo, and all but throws himself at them. I don’t care, is what Kei tells himself when he rests his chin on Akaashi’s shoulder shortly after that.

* * *

It’s difficult to tell that Kei was jealous of dinners like this just a couple months ago. To be fair, a couple months ago, Kei had no idea how most dinners at Akaashi’s place went down. Bokuto may be the best cook out of all of them, but cooking is just similar enough to making charms or potions that things sometime end a bit explosively. 

Kei drags a finger down his cheek and stares at the flour coating it. Every surface in the kitchen is covered in the substance, up to and including the other ingredients involved in the meal. 

All it would take is one quick cleaning spell to deal with it. The kitchen would be spotless, rather than white and chalky. It’s one of the simplest spells in the book, something that almost everyone has been taught since childhood. 

Cleaning spells are next to impossible for him to perform. 

Actually, Kei hasn’t seen any of the four of them successfully perform a cleaning spell. Which makes this mess a lot more daunting than it would have otherwise been. He scans the room uneasily. Maybe if he flees now, he skip out on the hours of work it’s going to take to clean up this mess.

But now Bokuto is staring at him with watery eyes, his bottom lip quivering. 

His plans of running from the scene of the crime disappear just like that. Kei sighs at the loss and steps forward. There’s no time to second-guess himself as he cups Bokuto’s face in his hands and kisses him, a soft forgiveness that makes Bokuto nearly melt into his touch. 

As soon as it ends, Kei knows for certain. His choice has been made for a long time now, but there will be no more running away now. They won’t let him run away now. Kei can’t bring himself to feel too broken up about that.

“Oho ho ho? Is that some kissing I see here?” 

His eyes squeeze shut. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned about the kitchen?” 

“That isn’t really important. What is important is that you didn’t spend another few months dancing around things.” Kuroo grins and throws his arms around the two of them. “This does mean that I get kisses too, right?” 

“Not anymore.” 

“Bro, Tsukki just kissed me,” Bokuto interjects, nothing short of awed. “Like, he just walked over and _kissed_ me.” 

“I saw. Just like how I can currently see that adorable blush of his,” Kuroo says. 

Kei scowls. “I’m not blushing.” 

“You are!” 

“Neither of you are getting any more kisses now.”

“Do I get the pleasure?” 

Kei looks over and hesitates at the small smile gracing Akaashi’s face, before he holds out his arm in a silent invitation. “So long as you don’t point out stupid things.” 

Akaashi steps into the hold, flour immediately coating his shirt and arms, but he doesn’t say anything about it as he leans up to kiss Kei’s cheek. 

Denying the dark heat forming in his face now would be stupid. But a quick glance at Bokuto and Kuroo confirms that neither of them blame him for it. Kei understands. He’s seen both of them turn magnificent shades of red when Akaashi showers them with affection as well. 

It’s like this, with Bokuto’s innate energy popping through the air, with Kuroo’s every present smirk pushing him forwards, with Akaashi’s steady air grounding him in reality, that Kei falls just a little bit in love with them. He keeps that truth inside him. Maybe one day, Kei will tell them, but for now, just wants to sink into that emotion and stay there. He wants to let the rest of himself catch up. 

That’s why Kei turns to Akaashi and kisses him properly, the rest of the world fading away. It’s why he welcomes Bokuto’s hands on his hips. Why he hooks a finger into one of Kuroo’s belt loops. 

“You know what?” Kuroo suddenly speaks up, casting an intense eye on the flour covering all of them from head to toe. “If we order a couple pizzas and tell Kenma he can eat as much as he wants, he’ll probably perform a cleaning spell for us. He always used to ace that class back in school.” 

“Or he’ll just eat all the pizza for himself and leave the kitchen a disaster,” Akaashi says, dryly. 

Kei holds back a laugh. “What?” 

“That’s what happened last time we tried to bribe Kenma.” 

“Only because Kuroo started calling him our personal maid,” Bokuto whispers, conspiratorially. 

Kuroo shrugs, smirking. “Well, we all make mistakes. Incredibly accurate mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless.”


End file.
